Indonesia rare earth export bottleneck

Indonesia's presidential staff office has called for cooperation between government agencies, law enforcement and industry to resolve a regulatory gap that has delayed exports of alumina and nickel products due to unregulated rare earth content. Indonesia is a major minerals exporter but only a minor producer of rare earths as a by-product, and no rules have been set governing the proportion of those elements in other mineral shipments. Presidential Chief of Staff Dudung Abdurachman chaired a coordination meeting on Monday with representatives from economic ministries, the Indonesia — National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), police, Attorney General's Office, sovereign wealth fund Danantara, state mining firms and industry groups. Two aluminium industry sources said alumina exports were affected, and two nickel industry sources said shipments of nickel pig iron and mixed hydroxide precipitate were also held up. Dudung said authorities, including the military, should not obstruct exports in the absence of rules. Under Indonesian rules, rare earth elements are prioritized for domestic use, and President Prabowo Subianto has set up a special agency to oversee their development. Main destinations for Indonesian alumina exports in early 2025 were Malaysia, India, Qatar, Singapore and China, while China received almost 98% of Indonesia's ferronickel exports.